We're Not Afraid of Divine Judgment. It's Like Magic?! The God's Challenge
is the third episode of the Dirty Pair OVA. It was first released on 1988-01-21 along with the fourth episode, They're Only Kids? Wargamers Must Die. Synopsis The Tarmians fled to a distant planet twenty years ago to live a quiet, religious life. But five years ago, a new god was brought to power, and ever since then, the people have begun to live in fear and doubt. When their god destroys a mining operation and kills 300 people in the process, the Lovely Angels are sent in to investigate this mystical mystery – and what they discover is a bloody mess Dirty Pair OVA on iTunes! Plot Act One A narration states that people in "the promised land" have been questioning their god's actions and teachings - and so, he's destroying them. The Lovely Angel lands in a port. Yuri and Kei exit in long dresses - which the former explains are part of a religious rule. When Kei wonders why the god is committing murders, people around look in shock and pray, as Yuri quickly pulls her partner away. In private, Yuri tells Kei to be more careful, since "these people are all Tarmians, a religious group who migrated here twenty years ago." Kei states that 300 employees from Jason-Hughes are dead, and that even the police agree the god's responsible (though Yuri reminds her they call it "judgement"). Yuri believes someone's been framing god - and making investigators disappear. With exagerrated stiffness, Kei statets they should be sensitive to the locals to create an air of cooperation - which Yuri agrees with. Outside, corn fields grow, leading Kei to mention how rural the area is. They need to get to "New Heaven" - with no rental cars or taxis nearby. A man in a truck, with a bull in the back, offers to give them a ride. While he initially refuses to take them to New Heaven, Yuri states that she's the daughter of a Manium mining engineer who died at the village, and wants to pray for her father's soul at the place of his death. With a brief prayer, the driver agrees. Kei quietly accuses Yuri of trying to get next to an attractive guy, before following her partner in. Kei's in the center seat, near the bull, as they listen to the radio. Yuri mentions how simple the life there is; according to their driver, the holy book reads "Thou shall not own more than what thy two hands can hold". Yuri asks if the church owns the Manium mine, which he confirms, while writing it off as unable to grow wheat or feed cows. The Lovely Angels wonder about what the church uses the cash for; he states it's for shrines, charities, and weather satellites to improve crops. Suddenly getting more serious, he says a new god was ordained five years ago, which surprises the Angels. While his parents still believe, the driver finds this one oppressive, due to insisting baptismal surgery and punishing New Heaven. Mid-sentence, he freezes, putting a hand on Kei; as she blushes, Yuri notices something's wrong. His neck forcibly twists until it spews blood. A voice over the radio states that disbelief is a crime, and orders the "unclean women" to leave. While Kei shouts back, the car falls off a cliff, exploding. Yuri latched onto the cliff with a grappling hook, holding Kei - who states that she won't forgive anyone who murders such a handsome man. Yuri asks her to stop flailing as the rope carries them up. The Angels walk through fields of corn, Kei complaining about her hunger, and Yuri trying to quiet her. They reach the ruins of New Heaven, with buildings burned and sliced open - Yuri comparing it to the swing of a sword. However, she says that it's a little "crude" for a god's punishment, which Kei agrees to; they wonder if it's the church using god's name, or god himself. Voices begin chanting nearby, and Yuri follows it, with Kei tagging along nervously. Within a crater lit by torches, men in full-body blue outfits chant around a man in tattered clothes, who's suspended upside-down on a cross-like wooden structure. Led by a man with a larger headpiece, they say they're gathered to "perform God's bidding" - and that God let a disbeliever survive to demonstrate his will. The leader declares those who don't follow the commandments will pay in blood, to remind them; he twists a spear, making the suspended man's wrists and ankles twist painfully in response until they spew blood. A flare lands in the crater, blinding them with light; the man's gone, with the barely-visible Lovely Angels carrying him out. The men in robes give chase, leading the Angels to hide in a ruined building, which they pass. Their leader finds the Angels thanks to Kei standing guard. He chants, and a beam cuts through a nearby building, the top nearly crashing on the Angels. They fire lasers at him, causing him to cut through more buildings in pursuit. Yuri smells something, and stops suddenly - taking a steel beam through the ground, and striking through transparent glass. A quick shot from her laser pierces the leader's visor, making him drop to the ground. He prays to God to remove his sin with a bolt from the sky, standing in pain - a single lightning bolt strikes his hand Act Two Fire burns where the group's leader was. Kei demands an explanation; Yuri bends over to find a "clear ion-knife", which she was alerted to by the smell of ozone. "It's made of super-thin single atom fibers", she explains, and tests its cutting power on some debris. She guesses that the church would kill anyone who discovers the truth behind it, causing Kei to remember the man they carried away. References 03